- Phone:
- 850-438-4899
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- 850-438-4044
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- info@twwlawfirm.com
- Location:
- 1823 North 9th Avenue
Pensacola, FL 32503
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Estate Planning
Estate Planning involves making decisions about how you want your healthcare, business, and money to be handled in the event that you become unable to direct your own affairs due to disability or death. It generally consists of drafting and executing the documents that will speak for you once you cannot. Such documents include Testamentary Wills, Advanced Directives and Trusts.
A Testamentary Will is important because if you die without a Will your property will pass according to the method set up by Florida law. This method rarely reflects what you would have wanted. A Will allows you to name potential guardians for underage children, to decide who will have your home and possessions, and permits you to designate a personal representative to handle the distribution of your assets through probate.
As part of the estate planning consultation, an attorney can assist you in setting up assets so that they do not need to pass through the court system, or probate to be distributed. Even if all assets are expected to pass directly to their beneficiaries, without probate, it is nevertheless worthwhile to have a simple Will, just in case new property is acquired or a mistake was made in the beneficiary designations of an asset.
The Advance Directive documents consist of a Durable Power of Attorney, Designation of Healthcare Surrogate, and a Living Will.
A Living Will allows you to state the conditions under which you would not wish your life to be artificially prolonged. It requires that two doctors agree that there is no reasonable probability of recovery. It also can state who the healthcare surrogate is and directs the surrogate to carry out the provisions of the living will.
A Designation of Healthcare Surrogate is a document that states who you want to make healthcare decisions in the event that you are incapable of providing informed consent. It can specify the types of decisions the surrogate is able to make, such as accessing medical records, applying for public benefits like Medicare or Medicaid, and authorizing admission to a healthcare facility, etc. It can also reference the directions provided in the Living Will.
A Durable Power of Attorney is used for financial matters and can be either effective immediately or effective after two doctors agree that you are no longer able to make decisions independently. This document will appoint the person (or persons) who are authorized to make financial decisions and that person will be called the “attorney-in-fact.” A durable power of attorney can grant very broad powers and should only be signed under the advice of an attorney.
Florida has laws that govern the drafting and signing of Testamentary Wills and Advance Directives. In Florida, a handwritten Will or a Will that contains handwritten modifications after the execution of the original Will is typically considered invalid by the Court because the Court cannot verify the Will’s authenticity.
Many people believe that they do not need an attorney because they can buy a “Will Kit” or print forms off the internet. This could prove to be a costly mistake which would only be discovered after it is too late to correct the problem. It simply isn’t worth the risk. At Taylor, Warren & Weidner, we ensure that your documents comply with the current laws while reflecting your individual wishes. We can also advise you on how to store or share your documents and when they should be updated.
An attorney will meet with you free of charge for a comprehensive consultation to discuss your unique plan. At this initial consultation, the attorney will set the flat fee charge which will include the drafting of your individualized documents, a review and exchange of comments regarding the drafts, the execution, and the provision of copies and originals of your executed documents.
